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Huawei is going in hard to the American smartphone market. Today, the company announced availability of the Ascend Mate2, a device for the phablet-loving, budget-minded folks among us. The device will be directly available to anyone who would like to purchase a unit, unlocked with access to 4G LTE connectivity, for the price of $299.

Huawei was kind enough to give us a unit to play with, and the first thing you will notice is the overall size. It feels very large, even making the Galaxy Note 3 and Sony Xperia Z2 feel somewhat manageable with one hand. Unless you are Shaq, this will be a two-hand device for most humans.

For $299, with the access to 4G LTE on T-Mobile or AT&T, the Ascend Mate2 is quite an unlocked deal for American smartphone buyers. If you ask us, there are not enough unlocked, cheaper options for US buyers to choose from.

Whenever you get down into the $300 range, OEMs drastically cut specs in order to make some type of return, but Huawei looks to have found a comfortable middle ground. While the display is only 720p, it does feature fine-enough detail, plus you can expect your massive battery to last you two days easy with nothing crazy for it to power. The camera is decent enough for being 13MP. Huawei’s skin still needs a bit of serious work, and with the device launching with only Android 4.3, we find ourselves frustrated. The company states an update will be announced sometime in the future.

Have questions about the Mate2? Ask them in the comments section and I will answer them promptly.

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it’s only 299.99 comes with 4g lte, 13mp back 5mp front quad core 2gb ram and u complain about 720p like it is really that bad can’t have everything perfect for that price

PaulACalvin

Huawei was kind enough to give us a unit to play with, and the first thing you will notice is the overall size. It feels very large, even making the Galaxy Note 3 and Sony Xperia Z2 feel somewhat manageable with one hand. Unless you are Shaq, this will be a two-hand device for most humans.

Sounds like a very good deal. Too bad i’m on verizon and it seems like there are getting to be more and more reasonabily priced, decent speced phones coming out here in the states on GSM.

cardi dark

leave verizon cdma is dying fast

Donald Motley

1. Are subpixels in the display shared between pixels– as in PenTile (Yecch!)?

2. Is the battery removable?

3. Is there a microSD card slot?

4. Love your style on the podcast.

GalaxyNoteIV

$299.
6.1″ 720p is laughable.

And this is the answer WHY Motorola’s decision to undercut competitors was a fatal mistake, a suicide.
There are dozens of CHINESE companies that are UNBEATABLE in this field.
They can manufacture G3 specs-like phone for $250 and make $10 on each.

santy83

Huawei would be better served had they released GPE version of this and put it on play store.

luke8400

I’m not Shaq and I can handle my Galaxy Mega 6.3 just fine, thank you very much. Even fits in my pocket without a problem. I’ve had smaller phones that actually felt more bulky because they were thicker. As long as they’re trim, bring on the phablets.

Tony Byatt

Good price…

That’s about it…

http://androidandme.com/ Taylor Wimberly

And longest battery life of any phone…

Tony Byatt

Congratulations…

http://androidandme.com/ Taylor Wimberly

Thanks….

Disqus_n00b

I know I thought 5 inches was excessive at one point, but 6 is finally too big

john

Obligatory Thats what she said comment…..Now that that comment has been said i think 5.5in is the most im comfortable with.

StockGS3er

Your comment deserves it’s own “That’s what she said” comment.

bigachx

I LOL’ed

ROR1997

G-Flex was good to use a 6inch screen.

NOTE4_FTW

everybody should decide what is PERFECT/good/enough for herself/himself.

I have no doubts in HUGE interest in HUGE 6″ QHD AMOLED Galaxy NOTE 4.

Group+selfie=groufie? Sounds like sprint helped them think of that lol

Cesar

At the very least, they’re not going around promoting a “groupie” feature.

https://www.heartbleedbug.com/ Intellectua1

What’s up with huge phones with crap displays (ex. Galaxy Mega and a couple others), I understand specs vs pricing with this phone but I felt the Galaxy Mega had no excuse.. Bigger phones should capitalize on screen resolution

guest

price. The G Flex had a 720 display to keep the cost down. That same technology in a 32in TV 1080 costs 15k.

chris125

I think you mean galaxy mega. G flex didn’t have 720p..

Jeremy

Actually the Flex DOES only have a 720p screen!

chris125

I stand corrected. Not sure why I thought it had 1080p screen.

http://androidandme.com/ Taylor Wimberly

I have a Mate2 and I would not call it a “crap display.” There are other things to consider (power consumption, price, performance, etc.) besides the max resolution.

Big EZ

So people who can’t afford a $800 phone shouldn’t have an option for a larger device?

http://people.ign.com/mrfrodo24 MrFrodo24

Why a 6.1″ display? Better off going 5.1″ since its 720p

middlehead

Probably a deal on overstock or not-up-to-1st-tier-standards panels from the panel manufacturer.

ROR1997

5MP front facing camera so they can watch you and the people in the background at a higher quality!

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